Veteran of the Week, Drew Alexander, U.S. Army

MILITARY CAREER

Drew Alexander joined the U.S. Army in 1963. He attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Following basic training he was assigned to engineer training. Alexander’s Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) was in demolition.

Drew Alexander joined the U.S. Army in 1963. He attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Following basic training he was assigned to engineer training. Alexander’s Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) was in demolition.

Following this he was assigned to various army posts in Germany for a period of 13 months. Upon completion of this tour Alexander was assigned to Fort Hayes in Columbus where he served out the remainder of his time until his discharge into the Inactive Reserves in 1966 with the rank of E-4.

POST-MILITARY CAREER

Following his return to the Akron area, Alexander worked for Firestone and General Tire from 1966 to 1970. He then joined the Akron Police department in 1971 and retired from the force in 1999 with 27 years of service.

In 1999 Alexander took a job in Washington with the Federal Government working on “The Cops in The Neighborhood Program.” This was a program that helped police officers purchase houses in poor areas with the intention of fixing them up over a three-year period of time to help improve the neighborhood.

He stayed with that program for a year until he was approached to run for Summit county Sheriff in 2000. Alexander won the election and two subsequent re-election bids but decided not to run for a fourth term and will retire from the sheriff's position in January, 2013.